Chris Gardner is a multimillionaire and CEO of a stock brokerage firm. He does not have a master’s in business or a college degree and used to sleep in public bathrooms.

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Gardner will be telling students how he went from being homeless to becoming a multimillionaire.

Admission is free, and the event is co-sponsored by a number of organizations including the Illinois Leadership Center, the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center and the Illini Union Board.

Gardner achieved international popularity after the film “Pursuit of Happyness,” in which his character is portrayed by Will Smith, achieved box office success. He has since taken it upon himself to teach people all over the world how anyone can achieve their goals no matter where they are in life. He has talked to people around the world and been to campuses all over America.

“As a student, we are at the crossroads in which we need to determine the path we want to take, which will impact the rest of our lives,” said Hollie Lewandowski, president of the Illini Union Board and junior in LAS, in an e-mail.

Some students said they have used Gardner’s story as inspiration for their academic pursuits. Rafael Angelucci, freshman in Engineering, said he watched the Will Smith movie without having known who Gardner was. Since watching it, he said the movie has “completely changed my outlook.”

“You hear so many stories from parents and other people about how anyone can make it in America, but I never really believed them. I thought those stories were just fairy tales,” he said. “It is possible. In fact, it’s happened before and this guy is living proof of it.”

Angelucci also mentioned how Gardner’s story was one of the motivating factors for him to attend this University and pursue his ambitions to become an engineer.

John Pepelnjak, freshman in Business, said he has been looking forward to seeing Gardner speak because he wants to learn about his “fight” through adversity.

“He is the living embodiment of the American dream. Literally, he is it,” Pepelnjak said. “When things looked awful, he didn’t give up.”

Lewandowski said students should attend the event because the story is an example of following the dream.

“Chris Gardner really presents a story of following your own dreams and taking action in life to reevaluate where you currently are and not being afraid to take action to achieve your dreams.”